Video production – never dull

As I turn 7 this month, but with a further 6 years in the video production industry before that, I thought I'd look back on some of the interesting moments over that period:
- Taking a camera and tripod up a ladder onto the roof of a domestic garage to film an interview. It was so that we could get a good view of the installation of solar panels in the background. I get vertigo, so that was interesting.
- Taking a camera up in a construction lift on the outside of a partially built tower block, to film on one of the upper storeys which had no walls. See above.
- Attaching a rear-fading GoPro camera to the boot of my car and then leading horsebox down a Hampshire lane to get a tracking shot.
- Filming from the copilot seat of a helicopter during a treasure hunt. Internal shots of the client behind meant filming backwards over my head, using the monitor screen like a periscope.
- Being at the RAC Club on Pall Mall at 5am to film the venue removing the front doors to winch a car into the lobby. Then being home by 8am and showing the edited video to the client at 10am
- Stopping in the middle of a short film shoot to walk down into Hammersmith to HSS to hire an angle grinder to remove a concreted-in bench from the middle of a disused courtyard. The bench was then moved to a more suitable spot for filming the scene.
- Filming an instructional video in the cockpit of an Airbus simulator. When the shoot was finished I was given a couple of goes at landing the plane at Gatwick All perished.
- Putting the camera on the tripod on a conference table to film an overhead shot of delegates. I operated the camera from atop a stepladder that the client found in their office.
- Donning scrubs and disinfecting the camera to film live procedures in a theatre. Wearing an X-Ray protective lead apron.
- Being invited to join the client at the Jubilee Celebrations in Buckingham Palace gardens. Not for a filming project, just as a thank you.
- While setting up for a shoot, being told that the client had forgotten to bring the props which were necessary for the project, so we all just had to go home and rebook for another day.
- Being asked about a project at 24 hours notice, the client then became uncontactable. So I took all the necessary gear to the station in the morning and called her from the car park to ask if I should get on a train to come and film. She said they had decided not to go ahead.
- Meeting Gary Lineker and having a post-shoot lunch with him was a highlight, pipped only by the shoot with Dame Kelly Holmes who brought her Olympic gold medals along.
- Filming in a gym, starting at 9.30pm.
- Noting on Twitter that a client was holding an event in Glasgow in 5 days time, while I was preparing to depart (by car) for a wedding mini-break near Glasgow that was in 4 days time. Normally the travel time and costs from Surrey would have made the project uneconomical for the client, had they considered having it filmed. As it was I took the camera gear along with me, should the project be approved while I was up there. It was.
- On a gut feeling, taking my stills camera along to a shoot in case the client asked for some photos as well. They did.
- Lending my GoPro to a team of charity cyclists who were riding from Paris to London, and giving them instructions on how to shoot interesting footage to hand back to me for editing.
- Being taken out on a lap of the Top Gear track after filming a charity cycle event which finished there.
- Filming a keep fit exercise on the roof of Tower 42.
- Monitoring a tripod camera shot whilst taking stills of the subject at the same time.
- Driving to Normandy to stay at a self-catering cottage for free, in exchange for shooting a property tour there.
- Filming a launch event in London featuring a live Skype from New York by an English woman living there. Then a few weeks later doing one of my regular gigs at a school in Berkshire and happening to notice the woman's name on the honours board. Spooky.
- On a rare jaunt outside of the South East, I was travelling by train back from a shoot in Leeds when a guy I used to work with 10 years before - in my previous career - sat down beside me.
- As an Astrophysics graduate, having the opportunity to film Prof Brian Cox give a lecture, and struggling to concentrate on my duties rather than what he was saying!
- Working on a case study interview, where my client had agreed with their customer a specific time for the appointment, and then turning up to the location to be told that the customer had gone on holiday just that lunchtime. You just can't make this stuff up.
- Just this month, being given a date for an event shoot for a longstanding client 2 years ahead of time. That kind of customer loyalty and belief is gold.